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Panhandling, landlord permits on council agenda

The Pensacola City Council will meet Thursday to discuss a proposed ordinance banning panhandling downtown, “urgent” repairs to the Osceola Golf Course clubhouse and possibly creating a mandatory permitting process for all rental properties in the city.

At an agenda review conference Monday, council members confirmed the topics for their upcoming regular meeting. The issue that has drawn the most public attention is an ordinance that would ban soliciting in the two blocks on either side of Palafox Street from Wright Street to Pensacola Bay.

There was very little discussion of the ordinance Monday — with City Council president Brian Spencer promising to go into the specifics Thursday — but advocates for the local homeless population were on hand to monitor the situation.

Michael Kimberl, executive director of the homeless outreach organization, Sean's Outpost, said he was concerned the ordinance would simply shuffle panhandlers to new areas without offering any solutions for getting them off the street.

"The government steps in and does what's easy for them, which is making it a law enforcement issue, but criminalization (of homelessness) has been proven to be the most expensive to taxpayers," Kimberl said. "The thing that's most troubling is they are taking a small area of Pensacola and saying it deserves protection over everywhere else."

Nathan Monk, a local human rights activist, said the City Council has repeatedly proposed ordinances targeting the homeless and always ended reversing course.

"We've been through this before," Monk said. "What really needs to happen is instead of focusing on criminalization, we need to focus on practical solutions with a proven record of ending homelessness. For a third of the cost of criminalization, we could provide housing and case management to get (the homeless) off the streets."

In other action, Councilwoman Jewel Cannada-Wynn proposed scheduling a June workshop to discuss creating a business licensing and permitting process for all rental property within the city limits. Cannada-Wynn said she raised the matter in response to complaints of "absentee landlords" who allowed their properties to linger in vacancy and disrepair.

Cannada-Wynn said, from a workshop research and discussion standpoint, the council should consider requiring permits for everyone with rental properties whether they be private individuals or commercial property management groups. She noted, however, that the permitting idea was only in a conceptual phase, and there was a lot of opportunity to reshape and refine it.

At Monday's meeting, the council heard a request from city staff to give the go-ahead for nearly $680,000 in repairs to the Osceola Golf Course clubhouse. City Administrator Eric Olson said the building needs urgent structural repairs and that anyone inside the clubhouse during a severe weather event could potentially be at risk.

The move to repair the building is complicated by another agenda item, a request by Cannada-Wynn to put a moratorium on encumbering any Local Option Sales Tax IV funds until the council and the mayor's office sit down and establish a list of LOST funding priorities. Mayoral staff are asking for the clubhouse to be an exception.

Some other items on Thursday’s agenda include a development plan for a residential condominium near Palafox and Pine streets, rezoning to allow for medical marijuana dispensaries in the city and a potential repeal of a plumber-opposed proposed ordinance that would have expanded Pensacola Energy's suite of installation services.

The council meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 222 W. Main St.